Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday that the Taipei City Government's press conference held to detail Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's (
"Since the allegations broke, Ma has come up with five or six different explanations [as to how he used the fund], each of which contradicted the other. That is the biggest problem with Ma: he has neither credibility nor integrity," DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (
Ker said Ma's absence from the press conference suggested that he was afraid of facing questions because the explanation he had come up with was actually a fabrication.
Citing the data Ma previously disclosed to the public, another DPP caucus whip, Yeh Yi-chin (
Yeh said that Ma had previously said he had donated NT$47.74 million from the money left over from grants awarded to him when he ran in mayoral elections in 1998 and 2002, NT$3.6 million from his salary as a member of the National Assembly, NT$2.42 million in unused campaign funds and NT$16.5 million from his special allowance fund.
"These donations add up to NT$70.27 million. So why did the Taipei City Government tell us today that Ma had donated NT$68.09 million?" she asked.
There were many dubious aspects to the explanation offered by the Taipei City Government yesterday, especially because no details of the donations were revealed, she added.
"During the press conference, the [Taipei City Government] didn't disclose how much had been given to whom and at what time," Yeh said.
DPP Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) said that some NT$15 million of the "NT$68.09 million" were donated after Ma came under investigation for embezzlement in late October.
Ma was accused of embezzling half of his mayoral fund, or NT$170,000 monthly, since he assumed office in 1998, totaling some NT$15 million.
"Ma said on May 19 that he had donated NT$53 million. But today we are told that the total amount he donated was NT$68.09 million. The discrepancy, NT$15 million, suggests that the donation of NT$53 million had nothing to do with his mayoral fund. He made the extra NT$15 million donation to cover-up his embezzlement," Hsieh said.
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